Give Me Time
by Amplifyingly Loud
Summary: Tsuna saw too much, his future was unexpected. Something went wrong. When he tried to fix it in his time, it was too late. His guardians...they were distancing themselves. The gears were already turning...But what about Tsuna? T for character death, gore
1. Chapter 1: The Future

Give Me Time Chapter 1 The Future

**Uh, a new story even though I haven't finished my other one? Well, yeah. I was challenged since all I write is humor, so I wanted to see if I was capable of doing other categories. This one probably won't be as well received, but that's okay~! It's inspired by 's story, "Their Boss." I won't copy, I promise (I'll try not to if that doesn't work out)! Ah, the things in italics usually mean a flashback. And if there's a suggestion for the name (I don't really like it), then please PM me or something!  
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**Summary: Tsuna saw too much, his future was unexpected. Something went wrong. When he tried to fix it in his time, it was too late. His guardians...they were distancing themselves. The gears were already turning...But what about Tsuna? T for character death, gore**

**WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! CHARACTER DEATH AHEAD. DON'T LIKE CHARACTER DEATH, DON'T READ. KIND OF BLOODY. LAST WARNING. CHARACTER DEATH AHEAD, TURN BACK IF YOU DON'T LIKE.  
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><p>"Lambo! That is my omelet! Give them back!" Tsuna cried out. The cow child seated next to him cackled.<p>

"No way, Dame-Tsuna! This is Lambo-san's omelet now! Gyahaha!" He promptly shoved the omelet into his mouth, chewing noisily.

"You snooze, you lose, Dame-Tsuna," Reborn said calmly. He sipped his espresso then opened his mouth to let Bianchi feed him.

"Reborn!" He whined. Tsuna pouted, but finished off the remainder of his breakfast. I-Pin looked at him a little worriedly.

"Tsuna-san? You want some omelet?" she offered. He sent the Chinese girl a grateful smile, but shook his head. She turned to face her bovine-clad friend. "Bad Lambo! No take Tsuna-san's breakfast!"

"Gyeh! Come catch me tail-head!" the boy taunted. He leapt off of his chair and ran around the room, I-Pin hot on his heels. Nana sighed.

"Would you like another omelet, Tsu-kun?"

"No thanks, Mom," he sighed. His mother nodded and went back to the kitchen to do the dishes.

"Gyah!" Lambo tripped. Conveniently, his Ten-Year-Bazooka flew out of his afro, diving directly for Tsuna. Everything seemed to be in slow motion, the purple bazooka covering Tsuna's hair, and Reborn watching with a slightly curious and worried look.

"HIIEEE!"

***BOOM!***

The pink smoke began to clear. Reborn expected the ten year later Tsuna to appear, a smirk already formed on his lips. However, when it dissipated completely, nothing occupied Tsuna's chair. It was empty. A frown quickly replaced his smirk. Something was very wrong.

'_Be careful, Dame-Tsuna,'_ Reborn thought.

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><p>"W-where am I?" Tsuna wondered out loud. He looked around, fear and curiosity evident in his eyes. Before him was a sturdy oak desk covered in all sorts of paperwork and pens. The room was dimly lit. A single lamp stood next to the desk, weakly illuminating the room. Bookshelves stocked full with books and folders lined the wall to his right. The room itself was colored a rich brown and gold, and the carpet was a lush and fluffy tan. "Vongola mansion," he whispered to himself, convinced it was indeed the Vongola Headquarters in Italy.<p>

Tsuna stood up from the chair he was sitting in. He walked to the door, opening it slightly and peering through the crack in the door. Clear. He hesitantly opened the door and cautiously walked outside. The hallways were decorated beautifully. As expected from Vongola. Portraits hung on the walls, not a single one crooked. Door stood between the massive framed pictures. Tsuna followed his Hyper Intuition. He went into the room on the far right end of the hall. With full nervousness, he lightly rapped on the door.

"Come in," an exhausted voice said. He hesitantly opened the door. Before him stood Vongola Decimo: himself ten years later.

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><p><strong>And that's it!<strong>

**...**

…

…

…**I need to continue.**

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><p>Vongola Decimo's eyes widened from his seat on his bed. Tsuna stared back at his future self.<p>

"H-how?" he croaked out. Tsuna looked equally confused.

"Um…hi?" Vongola Decimo blinked and rubbed his eyes. He muttered something along the lines of 'My eyes are playing tricks on me,' and cradled his head in his hands. An uncomfortable silence took over for a brief moment.

"It was the Ten Year Bazooka!" Tsuna blurted. He looked down, blushing furiously. Rustling from the bed signaled that Vongola Decimo had moved. He heard a light chuckle come from his side of the room. Tsuna looked up to see Vongola Decimo laugh a little. He laughed along with his older self.

"Thank you, me," Vongola Decimo said after a second of chuckling. Tsuna smiled at him. His Hyper Intuition began to act up on him, so the smile came out a little forced. Something seemed wrong.

"Hey, where is everyone? When I got here, it was really quiet. Knowing my – our friends, they would have destroyed the mansion by now," Tsuna said jokingly. Silence. "…What…happened?" he asked softly. His older self sighed, his shoulder's heaving slightly.

"I-I think it would be better if I s-showed you," he choked out. He motioned for Tsuna to get closer to him. Tsuna, confused, walked over to his older self and stood beside him. Vongola Decimo gently touched Tsuna's forehead, his Vongola Ring glowing.

'_Kufufu, I no longer feel the need to possess you, Sawada Tsunayoshi. Here's your Vongola ring,' Mukuro said. He casually threw the ring at Tsuna who fumbled before catching it. 'The next time our paths cross, expect to be enemies.' He turned to leave. _

'_Why? Am I not strong enough?' Tsuna called after him. Mukuro turned a fraction to look at his boss._

'_It's none of your concern. I have no business with you Mafia members anymore.' He turned to leave again. Two gunshots rang out, Mukuro's body crumpled beneath him. Quickly, a dark pool of crimson flooded out from beneath his body._

'_M-Mukuro!' the brunet ran over to his fallen comrade. How? How was he shot? They were indoors! Mukuro smirked weakly at his boss, a look of sadness ghosting over his features._

'_Kufufu. So this looks like this is it.' He held a hand over his bleeding eye, his other hand resting on the hole in his chest. Tsuna watched numbly as Mukuro coughed out blood, losing consciousness, his life slipping away. 'I'll be back. The six paths of hell…' Mukuro closed his good eye._

'_Mukuro! Please, stay with me! I'll get help, just don't…die.'_

Tsuna's eyes widened. Mukuro…killed? By who?

'_B-Boss, where is Mukuro-sama?' Chrome asked. The two of them were taking a stroll in Vongola's garden since he had run into her on the way. The brunet gave her stiff smile. _

'_He's on a mission. He won't be returning for a while,' Tsuna said gently. Chrome's eyes widened._

'_Boss…M-Mukuro-sama…is he dead?' He had no easy way to tell Chrome. It seemed as though Mukuro did not return from his trip to Hell, at least from what Tsuna knew._

'_Chrome…I-I…' Tsuna reached for her arm, but she turned away, refusing to look him in the eyes._

'_I-It's okay, Boss. I felt him disappear. B-but thank you…for everything,' Chrome said softly. She gazed at the floor, feeling the familiar heat surround her vision._

'_C-Chrome! You don't mean to-' Tsuna tried to say._

'_Hai, Boss. I…must resign. Goodbye, Sawada Tsunayoshi-san.' She turned and bowed, then turned on her heels._

'_W-wait, Chrome-' Another gunshot resounded in the afternoon air. Chrome's body fell backwards, Tsuna rushed to catch her. A little bit of her blood splashed onto his cheek. He flinched when he felt something warm and wet trickle between his fingers._

'_I-I'm sorry…Boss,' she murmured. Tsuna's vision began to cloud._

'_No! Chrome, please, hang on until we get help!' He gently sent her down and pulled out his phone, ignoring the blood that coated his fingers. Chrome's breathing began to become labored, a dark mass of blood pooling from underneath her. It seeped everywhere, staining her clothes. His as well._

'_Hello? There's an emergency! Chrome's bleeding! Please, get help as soon as you can!' Tsuna shouted into his phone._

'_B-Boss…' she whispered weakly. Tsuna clasped her hand in his, staining her pale skin a dark red._

'_Please…hang on Chrome!' She turned her head to the side, her breathing halted._

"N-no! Not Chrome!" Tsuna gasped. Vongola Decimo continued to pour his memories into Tsuna's head.

'_Sawada Tsunayoshi,' Hibari's smooth voice called out. Tsuna's eyes had dark rings under them. His hair was beyond a mess, sticking in every direction. Tsuna looked up from his paperwork, a haunted look to his face._

'_Hibari-san! How can I help you?' he forced a smile. It was evident that he was exhausted._

'…_Herbivore, take your ring back. I don't need your Vongola power anymore,' he stated coldly. Hibari placed the ring on his desk and turned to leave. Tsuna gaped._

'_Wait! I can change! I'll be less herbivorous from now on! Just…please, don't lea-' The haunting gunshot sounded out once again. Hibari was caught off guard for once. The skylark put a hand to his chest, pulling away to look at his fingers. A dark crimson stained his slender, pale fingers._

'_Hibari-san!' Tsuna rushed to his Cloud Guardian._

'_Hn.' Hibari walked out of the room, and then slid down the wall beside the door. A dark trail of red followed his body down the wall. The blood on his chest bloomed on his clothes, staining everything a darker red. Splotches of blood settled on the floor._

'_Hibari-san! Don't die! Please, don't die! I'll let you bite me to death! I'll give you more missions by Namimori! Just…don't die…' Tsuna cried. He knelt beside his Cloud guardian. He reached for his phone, but the stubborn Cloud man held his hand up to keep him from calling._

'_O-omnivore…' Hibari's breathing was slowing. 'I'll bite you…to death if you…tell anyone about this…' He closed his eyes. Tsuna cried harder. His strongest guardian was gone while the blood on his clothes grew like a living, breathing monster._

Tsuna blinked back tears.

"How…how can Hibari-san…die?" he choked out. Vongola Decimo shook his head.

'_Sawada!' the boxer yelled. Tsuna stopped his training with the punching bag to face Ryohei._

'_Onii-san! Can I help you?' Tsuna asked his Sun guardian. Sweat dripped down his face._

'_I think I know who's behind...their deaths,' he said softly. Tsuna's gaze hardened._

'_Any information would be good,' he said._

'_But first, Sawada!' Tsuna's stomach clenched. He guessed – knew – what was coming next._

'_I-It's okay if you want to quit working for me, Onii-san,' Tsuna said. Ryohei's gaze softened._

'_It's EXTREMELY not your fault, Sawada! It's just…I'd rather spend time…with Kyoko and Hana,' he said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. Tsuna nodded._

'…_Okay. Please, protect Kyoko…for me,' Tsuna said. He held out his hand to receive the Vongola Sun ring from Ryohei. 'And have a safe trip.' He smiled, blinking back tears. Ryohei blinked, and held out his hand. They shook hands, and then departed. _

_A week later, Tsuna received a message from Kyoko. She was hysterically crying over the phone._

'_T-Tsuna-kun! Onii-chan…he…HE'S GONE!' she wailed, sobbing into Haru's shoulder. He could tell it was Haru since he heard her in the background._

'_No…no. Please tell me that it's…not…true…' Tsuna trailed off, beginning to sob himself. 'No…'_

'_A-A shot...to the head…' she sobbed louder. 'There was so much blood! So much blood…' she trailed off, her sobbing muffled by Haru's shoulder._

'_No…Please, no…' Tsuna slid to his knees, clutching his head._

'_Tsuna-san. I'll call you back,' Haru whispered into the phone. The phone clicked, leaving beeping noise where Kyoko's sobbing had been. _

"Not Onii-san!" Tsuna moaned. Vongola Decimo himself was blinking back his tears.

"There's more," he whispered.

'_Tsuna!'_

'_Oh, hey Yamamoto! What's up?' Tsuna forced yet another smile. Four of his guardian – his friends – had died that month. The baseball fanatic jogged up to his boss._

'_Listen, Tsuna, I really need to go back to Japan. My father…he's dying,' Yamamoto said softly._

'_Oh…I'm sorry to hear that. Of course you can go. I don't want to keep you waiting any longer. Go be with your father!' Tsuna insisted. _

'_Tsuna…' Yamamoto breathed out. Tsuna sent him a reassuring smile._

'_It's okay. Just be careful.' He trusted him._

_A few days after Yamamoto departed for Namimori, Tsuna received a package that came from Namimori._

'_That's strange,' he thought. He opened it up. Papers, papers, and more papers. Something stiff at the bottom made his blood run cold. Slowly, he pulled the object out. Yamamoto's Rain ring. Tsuna paled, shuffling through the papers. One single paper caught his attention._

'_Yamamoto Takeshi. Status: Terminated.'_

'_Yama…moto…' Tsuna felt the familiar sob rising up his throat. His beloved friend…also dead…_

_Pictures also came with the package. Tsuna looked through them in horror, each image scarring his mind. Yamamoto look bruised, his face bloody, and his body covered with cuts from a sword. There was blood everywhere. On the walls, the carpet, even the ceiling. Beside Yamamoto was his father, who was decapitated. His body was suspended by a single rope dangling from the ceiling._

"Please tell me this isn't real," Tsuna mumbled. Hot tears streamed down his cheeks.

"Tsuna, that's not the end of it," Vongola Decimo said softly. He too was crying. This was painful, it really was.

'_Tsuna-aniki! Tsuna-aniki!' Lambo walked into Tsuna's office. Tsuna looked worse than before. His eyes were bloodshot, the rings under his eyes were darker and deeper. His lean body was thinning even more, Tsuna had found it difficult to eat ever since their deaths…_

'_Tsuna-aniki, we're worried. Please, eat something,' Lambo pleaded. Tsuna barely acknowledged him, writing furiously on his paperwork. 'Tsuna-aniki…' Tsuna momentarily stopped, the pen in his hand shaking. _

'_L-lambo,' Tsuna said. Lambo, who was 14 at the time, leaned in to hear what his brother had to say._

'_Yes, Tsuna-aniki?'_

'_D-don't go…don't go outside today,' Tsuna absently mumbled. He returned to his paperwork. Lambo blinked and slowly walked out of the room. He turned one last time to look at his boss and silently closed the door._

_Since Lambo was still a teenager (or preteen if you prefer), he was curious as to why Tsuna told him specifically to not go outside. His interest piqued, he went out through a secret opening of the Vongola's mansion._

_Lambo's body was recovered two weeks later. As if it were some sick joke to his murderer (Tsuna had concluded that it was murder), Lambo's body was "painted" black and white in a cow pattern, though the black was actually bruises and the white being parts of his body where blood was drained._

'_L-Lambo…' _

_Tsuna found it difficult to sleep for the next few weeks._

"Lambo…" Tsuna furiously wiped away his tears. Before him, Vongola Decimo was sobbing loudly, his back shaking with each heave.

"T-This was the last straw…" he barely whispered.

'_J-Juudaime…' Gokudera looked at his boss. Tsuna turned to face his right hand man. 'You know that I will do anything to protect your life, right?' Tsuna nodded. 'I…need to break it.'_

'_What? Why? Gokudera-kun, what's going on? Everyone…they're all…dead. So why?' Tsuna asked. He could feel his tears coming again._

'_It's…none of your concern.' Tsuna looked away. Had he looked at Gokudera, he would've seen that Gokudera was near tears himself._

'_Please…stay…I don't want you to leave…' Tsuna sniffed. Gokudera could only look at his boss sadly._

'_I'm doing this…to protect you, Juudaime. I'm sorry…I'm sorry that I wasn't strong enough, and I'm sorry that I didn't realize it until it was too late…' Gokudera thought. Slowly, he pulled out a gun. Tsuna's eyes widened significantly as he realized what Gokudera was about to do._

'_No…Please, no! Gokudera-kun!' He ran toward his friend. Gokudera flashed him one last sad smile. He placed the barrel of the gun to his own head and pulled the trigger._

"Gokudera-kun," Tsuna whispered. He couldn't stop his tears from streaming down his face. Was this what his future was like? What went wrong?

"There was so much blood…so much blood," Vongola Decimo whispered, cradling his head between his hands. Tsuna sunk to his knees, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Why? Who would do such a thing? What happened?" Tsuna hiccupped. He wiped the flowing tears from his face. Vongola Decimo quickly swiped his eyes, drying them for a brief moment.

"Tsuna…I want you to find this boy…eliminate him," Vongola Decimo said. He pulled out a picture from his bedside table and shoved the papers into his hand. "You don't have much time." Tsuna looked at him confused.

"Why?" he asked.

"Look at the papers when you're alone, and hide them well. You only have a minute left," Vongola Decimo instructed. Tsuna wordlessly clung onto the papers. "Eliminating him will bring them back," he whispered.

"But isn't there another solutio-" Tsuna was cut off by his older self, who held out his hand. He closed his mouth at his older self's stern look.

"Just…please…bring them back…" he sobbed. Tsuna nodded. Unbeknownst to Tsuna, Vongola Decimo was at his breaking point. He, who had witnessed his friends' deaths, had tried to remain strong. But there was only so much he could take. Quietly, he pulled out a gun from the same place he pulled the papers from. Tsuna watched in horror as his future self placed the barrel of the gun to his own head.

"No!" He was about to slap the gun from his hand, but the shot echoed firmly in Decimo's room. A pink smoke cloud surrounded him, as he was transported back to his time.

"Welcome back, Dame-Tsuna. How was the future?" Reborn smirked. Tsuna then did something very unTsuna-like. He hugged Reborn and started bawling his eyes out.

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><p><strong>So that's it…I feel horrible. Poor Tsuna! Not to mention I killed people (indirectly). Please, any feedback would be nice! Oh, and if you are slightly confused, Vongola Decimo is Tsuna ten years later. I just used Vongola Decimo to help differentiate TYB Tsuna and TYL Tsuna. Any other questions, please leave in a review or PM me. Ciao!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2: New Arrival

Give Me Time Chapter 2

**Wow, I honestly didn't think this would get this much attention…So I take it you guys liked it so far? Thank you to SullyWullybunny, xLilVietAprilx, Angelo-Degaspera, La signora Della Grande Cielo, Preppy-stealthy-ninja, Amethystgirl1943, Pineapple the Fourth, Bishi-bishi, Vic-chan, Yuukii Hiime, Bluelup28, Halloween's Phantom, cael05, Clams-and-Rainbows, Koyuki11, dolphinherovamp5, Amaya Ishimoto, mangopudding, lulieor, Mournluverxxx, TheLazyOtakuWithTooMuchTime (nice pen name!), Vongola-Nicole, MACCIC, and for either leaving a review, putting this on alert, faving it, or all of the above! (You too anonymous person who didn't leave a name for me to thank you by.)**

**I really hope you guys like this chapter! And since no one reads freakishly long author notes, I'm gonna put this here. OC warning. I know some people out there despise him already or will despise him, but he's kinda important to the plot…Ahaha, that's not good, is it? I know I haven't updated anything in a while. I'm sorry guys! School has been crazy (for me at least, though it's crazy for everyone else too…) I'll try to get another chapter up for Jump into the Real World, but I can't promise anything. And recently, I've been getting my art up on dA! So, please check it out! Go to http:/ babygpanda. deviantart. com/ without the spaces. Tell me what you think!**

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><p><em>Show me a hero and I'll show you a tragedy. – F. Scott Fitzgerald.<em>

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><p>Reborn warily watched Tsuna sob, not knowing how to comfort his bawling student. Usually, when his students cried, he was the reason for their tears. What had happened to cause his dame student to cry like this?<p>

"Oi! Dame-Tsuna!" Reborn said. Tsuna continued to sob, his shoulders heaving with each intake of breath. Reborn sighed and grabbed him by his shoulders, looking him square in the eye. "Tsuna!"

Tsuna stopped his crying to look at his tutor. A sob escaped his lips, a small whimper coming softly from him.

"R-Reborn…" Reborn looked at his student, studying his tear-streaked face. His eyes were red and puffy from his crying, and his breathing came out in hiccups.

"What did you see?" he asked in a low voice. Tsuna shook his head. He clamped his hand over his mouth to muffle his hiccups. Reborn frowned. He leaned in closer to his student, a slight aura of menace (and worry, though Reborn would never say so) surrounded his small body. "What. Did. You. See?" he asked. Tsuna hesitatingly let his hand fall to his side. Attempting to calm his sobs, he shakily replied, "Blood."

Reborn raised an eyebrow.

"So much blood…I couldn't save them…I couldn't…" Tsuna broke out into fresh sobs. Reborn slowly brought his small hand to rest on the sobbing brunet's shoulder in a nearly comforting manner.

"Tell me what happened."

"Blood…so much blood…" Tsuna muttered. Reborn's eyes slightly narrowed from under his fedora. It was apparent the young boy was suffering from trauma.

"Tsuna. Calm down," he commanded. Tsuna complied, muffling his sobs with his hand once again. "Good. Now, tell me what you saw. I don't want those random phrases you've been spewing out. Tell me what happened." Tsuna nodded, and took in a shaky breath.

"I-I was at the Vongola mansion of ten years later." Reborn nodded. "I followed my Hyper Intuition and went into a bedroom. There on the bed was V-Vongola Decimo."

"So you met yourself ten years later?" Tsuna nodded, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand.

"A-and he showed me some memories using the Vongola Sky ring. There was so much blood…so much blood…" Tsuna's eyes began to water, threatening to spill once more. Flashes of his comrades' fallen bodies went through his mind, going from the least gruesome to most. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to force the images out.

"What else did you see, Tsuna?" Reborn asked. His fedora shadowed his eyes.

"In his – my memories, all of the guardians…my friends…died," Tsuna's breath caught in his throat. Tears flowed down his face, a painful sight to see. "I saw it all."

Reborn stood there silently in deep thought. The only noise in the dining room was Tsuna's sniffles and small, choked sobs. He looked at his student from beneath his fedora, a dark look crossing his features. Something was wrong with the future, he was sure of it.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Boss, have you arrived yet?" a voice over a cell phone asked. The receiver snorted.

"Of course I have. I did depart several hours ago," he scoffed. He heard the voice on the other end sigh. "And before you ask any more questions, my host family has picked me up from the airport already."

"I was just assuring your safety, Boss," the voice said.

"Yeah, yeah. I got it," the boy said. "Please quit nagging."

"Boss –"

"Look, I know what I have to do. I know my purpose of this mission. Please tell _Father_ he doesn't need to worry about me," he said, venomously hissing out the word "father". The boy ran a hand through his short brown hair highlighted blond. "I'll call you later." He tapped the screen and ended the call.

'_Namimori, huh?_' he thought, looking up at the bright blue sky.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"O-oi! Quit following me you baseball freak!" Gokudera growled. Yamamoto laughed beside him, slinging an arm around the enraged boy's neck. Gokudera pushed his arm off, glaring at the Rain guardian.

"We're both going to Tsuna's house anyways. We might as well go together!" he smiled. Gokudera scowled.

"Tch." They walked in silence.

Birds sang, the sun was shining warmly, and the sky was spotted with wispy white clouds. A perfect day.

They finally reached the Sawada household, and Yamamoto politely knocked on the door.

"Tsuna!" he called.

"Shut up Baseball Freak! What if you wake up Juudaime?" Gokudera snarled. His friend beside him blinked.

"But isn't it already the afternoon? Why would Tsuna still be asleep?" he asked. The silver haired boy just glared at him. "Eh? It looks like nobody's home," the baseball fanatic said. Gokudera's face immediately changed from a scowl to a worried expression.

"Juudaime! Are you okay? As your right hand man, I'll save you from any danger!" Gokudera banged on the door. Since the door wouldn't budge, he tried twisting the knob to no avail. Yamamoto just laughed.

"Maybe they're out shopping," he suggested. He put his hands behind his head and leaned back. "Let's come back later, yeah?" Gokudera growled at him, but walked away from the door. He shot one last look at the house and turned to face Yamamoto.

"Fine. I'm coming back later, though. You can't stop me!" he said, determined. Yamamoto nodded.

"Yeah. We'll visit Tsuna later then." They began to walk away from the house's gates. "Oh! Did I ever tell you that I have a new person at my house?" Yamamoto said, starting a conversation.

"Why would I care?" Gokudera snapped. Yamamoto shrugged.

"Well, he seems really interesting. He's definitely foreign!" Gokudera looked alerted by this.

"Baseball idiot, do you know where he's from?" The taller boy frowned, a look of deep thought crossing his face.

"Hmm…America? No, Italy? Haha, I don't remember!" he smiled. Gokudera scowled deeply.

"Useless…" he muttered.

"Wanna meet him? He's still at my house unpacking. Oh, look! We're already here! Haha!" Yamamoto laughed and walked through the doorway of his father's sushi shop. Gokudera begrudgingly followed behind him.

"Yo! Takeshi! I thought you were going to your friend's house," Yamamoto Tsuyoshi said. Yamamoto nodded.

"Yo, Pops! He wasn't home. I was going to introduce Gokudera to our boarder until he comes back later. Is that okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," he returned to skillfully cutting the fish he was handling. Yamamoto waved to his father who grinned and nodded in return.

The two walked through the back room and up the stairs, reaching the living quarters of the sushi shop. Yamamoto walked to the guest room, Gokudera following behind him. He lightly knocked on the door (it was the only bedroom that had a door. The others were the sliding doors that traditional Japanese houses had. Don't ask me why, just go with it.)

"Hey! Do you need help unpacking?" Yamamoto asked, knocking then opening the door. Gokudera stood beside the taller boy, surveying the new arrival who was kneeling before a brown box.

"Y-yeah. Sure, thanks…" the boy stuttered, standing up and brushing the imaginary dirt off his pants. He had short mouse brown hair with natural blond highlights. His hair seemed like a bed-head since wisps of his hair stuck in every direction. It didn't help that he had slightly curly hair. His eyes were a light ice blue, piercing but comforting at the same time. He appeared to be Tsuna's height, perhaps slightly taller by an inch or two, but he had a more muscular and lanky build. Gokudera's eyes narrowed.

"Oi! Who are you?" he growled. The boy looked taken aback by his rudeness, but blinked and fumbled with his Japanese.

"I…I'm Isaac…"

"I meant your family's name, dumbass!" Isaac blinked.

"Um…A-Arturi…" he stuttered out. His eyes widened, and he quickly bowed. "Excuse my manners," he mumbled. Gokudera ignored the last part.

"Che." Gokudera's mind raced to remember any mafia names of Arturi. The boy in front of him stared at him as if sizing him up through his calculating gaze.

"C-can I ask…why you wanted to know my last name?" he asked. Gokudera looked away, still scowling.

"That's none of your concern."

"O-oh." Isaac looked down. "W-well, can I get help w-with unpacking?" Yamamoto laughed good-naturedly and grabbed a box.

"Sure! Gokudera! You're going to help, right?" he asked. Isaac sent him a pleading look, slightly like Tsuna's. That's it. He resembled Tsuna. Ish.

"Che." Gokudera unwillingly kneeled before a brown box. Isaac smiled at him before sorting through a box.

"Thanks. I…hope we can be friends," he smiled shyly.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

From his window, Tsuna silently watched his two friends walk away from his house. He was torn between shouting out to his friends, saying he was fine and at home, and leaving them alone.

_Why are you two leaving? Please come back. I promise I'll protect you! You guys…you're my sky, just like I'm yours. My friends, right? Why won't you check to make sure I'm here? Am I not strong enough? P-please… d-don't…leave me alone…_

_It's my fault that they're dead. I got them involved in the mafia. I should have died, not them. They should have never been involved in all of this in the first place. Yamamoto would have been a pro baseball player in the future, and Gokudera could be doing things like joining that one club about UMAs. Everyone, they would all be better off if I had never gotten them involved. The path I'm going down will drag them down…_

_They'll come back for me…right? _

Tsuna slumped down against the wall, holding his knees to his chest. His breaths came out at ragged intervals, sobs choked in his throat. A tight feeling grasped at his heart, clutching, gripping at it as though an invisible hand was slowly squeezing his heart, threatening to squish the warm organ within its palms.

Pain. He was in pain. But this pain hurt the most because it wasn't physical.


End file.
